May 2
2 Samuel 24:1-9; 1 Chronicles 21:1-6; 2 Samuel 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 21:7-17; 2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Chronicles 21:18-22:19
Can seemingly contradictory Scripture passages be God-breathed and true? In 2 Samuel 24 it says "he (God) incited David;" then in 1 Chronicles 21, "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David." So, was it Satan or God? In 2 Samuel we are told Israel had 800,000 able bodied men and Judah had 500,000. These numbers seem to contradict the numbers in 1 Chronicles—1,100,000 who could handle a sword and 470,000 in Judah. A great resource for passages that seem confusing is The Big Book of Bible Difficulties by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe.
They believe both statements are true in the first mentioned contradiction. God allowed Satan to incite David, but it was Satan that actually did it. Their solution to the numbers of soldiers is that they are counting two different groups of people. The smaller numbers in 2 Samuel do not include the standing armies which consisted of 288,000 in Israel (see 1 Chronicles 27:1-15), 12,000 in Jerusalem and 30,000 in Judah (2 Samuel 6). We need to do the hard work of understanding how God’s Word is true. However, there may be moments we just have to humbly admit the mystery of aspects of Scripture.
Father God, thank you that your Word is true. Help me to love you with my mind and grow in knowledge of you and your truth. Amen.
Did the above explanations satisfy you? Why or why not?
Can seemingly contradictory Scripture passages be God-breathed and true? In 2 Samuel 24 it says "he (God) incited David;" then in 1 Chronicles 21, "Satan rose up against Israel and incited David." So, was it Satan or God? In 2 Samuel we are told Israel had 800,000 able bodied men and Judah had 500,000. These numbers seem to contradict the numbers in 1 Chronicles—1,100,000 who could handle a sword and 470,000 in Judah. A great resource for passages that seem confusing is The Big Book of Bible Difficulties by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe.
They believe both statements are true in the first mentioned contradiction. God allowed Satan to incite David, but it was Satan that actually did it. Their solution to the numbers of soldiers is that they are counting two different groups of people. The smaller numbers in 2 Samuel do not include the standing armies which consisted of 288,000 in Israel (see 1 Chronicles 27:1-15), 12,000 in Jerusalem and 30,000 in Judah (2 Samuel 6). We need to do the hard work of understanding how God’s Word is true. However, there may be moments we just have to humbly admit the mystery of aspects of Scripture.
Father God, thank you that your Word is true. Help me to love you with my mind and grow in knowledge of you and your truth. Amen.
Did the above explanations satisfy you? Why or why not?
Recent
Archive
2025
January
January 1January 2January 3January 4January 5January 6January 7January 8January 9January 10January 11January 12January 13January 14January 15January 16January 17January 18January 19January 20January 21January 22January 23January 24January 25January 26January 27January 28January 29January 30January 31
February
March
Categories
no categories
No Comments